"Local political activist Louis Seveke was shot dead
in Nijmegen on Tuesday night, his friends and the police have
confirmed.

Seveke, 41, was walking on the Van Welderenstraat in the city
at about 9.30pm when the killer approached and shot him twice.

The police have declined to speculate on a possible motive
for the murder or whether it was premeditated. Forensic experts
carried out a technical investigation at the scene of the murder
to search for clues. Detectives are looking for witnesses.

Seveke was a left-wing activist who was known for at least
20 years in Nijmegen as a campaigner against alleged abuse of
power by the police.

He established the Steunpunt Informatiedienst Politie Nijmegen
(SIP Nijmegen), which took numerous legal cases against the security
service BVD (now AIVD) for maintaining files on political activists.

Many people were granted access in the 1990s to the files
compiled on them thanks in part to campaigning by SIP Nijmegen.

Seveke also led the Werkgroep Klachten Politieoptreden (WKP),
a working group that lobbied against unfair treatment of people
arrested by the police. The WKP was in the national news recently
for supporting people arrested for refusing to carry official
identification.

News agency ANP reported that Seveke regularly visited the
live-in activist centre 'De Grote Broek'. The police have carried
out raids at this building and other activist centres in Nijmegen
in recent days to remove posters criticising the tough policies
of Immigration and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk.

Seveke's shocked friends and associates held gatherings in
three locations in Nijmegen on Tuesday night after hearing about
the murder."

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